Life, as seen by this forty-smtg year old (and it's always 42!)

love

When I was a 12-year-old attending an all-girls convent school (!), I would update my school diary on a weekly basis with my top 5 names for boys and girls. Maternal thoughts back then were clearly already being drummed into us!

I’ve been unwell with a raging cold/flu for the past week. Nonexistent nose, compressed chest, wracking coughs, and an abdomen that felt like a truck had run over it due to the afore-mentioned cough. So as you can imagine, the prospect of attending my kid’s open day at school was daunting, to say the least.

Today, as I was listening to Italian radio (something I love to do to escape the anglicised world we live in), the programme hosts were commenting on a survey that was recently carried out to see what ‘firsts’ people most remembered.

Of course, there were the standard ones, such as the first time we fall in love, the first kiss, the first time we have sex. Continue reading →

Yesterday, in preparation for my hospital admission later today, I sat down to conclude the hardest task I’ve ever had to do in my life. I finished writing letters to my three year old son, letters that will be given to him hopefully by me when the right occasion presents itself, but that are there in the case of any eventuality. Continue reading →

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here, mostly due to my condition which has left me with very little energy and time to do anything much. More on that later.

But today, today I couldn’t let the day pass by without posting this. Today would have been the 75th birthday of a very, very special woman who entered my life rather late (I was 31 when I met her) but who firmly became one of my most ardent supporters, always there, with a quiet presence, but a rock solid one, firm in her convictions, but without judgement, willing to do whatever it took to be the very best person she could be. Continue reading →

Those are the very first words we (as newborns) hear, announcing to the world at large where it is we take our place across this great divide. Are we from Mars? Are we from Venus? What if we’re neither? Or what if we’re born one way but deep down are another way? Continue reading →